The Nightmare Before Christmas geniusly combines the themes of two popular holidays Halloween and Christmas. Out of all the things that have come from Tim Burton's head this has got to be the most imaginative idea that he's ever come up with. Surprisingly though, this is the only Tim Burton movie that Tim Burton himself didn’t direct. That job was given to stop motion animator Henry Selick and he is so good at adapting Burton's Style that it's really hard to tell.
In a world where holidays have their own separate worlds, Jack Skellington, the king of HalloweenTown, is unhappy and bored with being something that goes bump in the night every year and wants to be part of something new and different. Jack wanders far into the woods until he comes across the forest where there are several doors leading to different holiday worlds. Out of all of them though, his eyes are transfixed on the Christmas door. He enters the door and discovers the wonderful magical world of Christmas Town. Jack has never seen anything like it and he returns to HalloweenTown with a passionate mindset and is transfixed as to why Christmas left such an impact on him. Jack, after constantly obsessing, eventually comes up with the “brilliant” Idea to kidnap Santa Claus and take over his job. Unfortunately, Jack has yet to realize how things could go miraculously wrong.
The story itself is told in a very simple way that makes it timeless and easy for anyone to grasp. This is the kind of story that's actually similar to other holiday stories like Rankin Bass’s Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or Dr Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They’re not especially complex, but they really don't need to be. This story is exactly the same idea as it’s simple in its execution, but also gives way to universal themes and messages that anyone at any age could understand. It's very crazy to see how two holidays combine together in such an odd but impressive way. It meshes so well that people to this day keep puzzling on if this is a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie. The actual concept of holidays having their own world is very creative and the characters that surround the story are memorable and even iconic in many ways. Jack Skellington is just great as a character on his own but other characters like Sally, Oogie Boogie and some of the other Halloween town residents are a real joy to watch.
This was one of the first full length feature films to be done in Stop motion Animation and wow did they deliver. Tim Burton always had a unique visual style and I’m happy to report that even decades later, it's amazing just how creative and iconic these locations and characters are. Halloweentown is dark and twisted with many characters that are straight from Tim Burton’s Imagination while Christmas Town has this nice and gentle look that looks straight out of a Christmas card. The music is done by frequent Tim Burton Collaborator Danny Elfman. In my Opinion, he should be proud of himself because the songs that were written for this movie have got to be some of the best I've ever heard from him and with all the movies he's scored in his career that is saying a lot.Even if you’ve never seen the movie, I bet that you would still know these iconic songs like This is Halloween, What’s This or even Making Christmas.
This is Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s Masterpiece thanks to its creative ideas, memorable characters and very iconic musical numbers. This is a movie that is still being watched by millions to this very day and there is no doubt that it has set the bar high for future stop motion films and it has left an impact on so many people including myself. This movie is not only one of my favorite movies from Tim Burton but also one of my favorite movies from Disney.
(Final Grade: A+)